A News Blog

Crime and courts in West Alabama

Investigators are searching for the owner of a ring that contains more than 75 keys. West Alabama Narcotics Task Force members found the key ring while conducting a search warrant on Tuesday. Most of the keys are for Volvo vehicles and are numbered. Police suspect that the key ring belongs to a business owner. Police are asking the owner to call the department’s Criminal Investigations Division at 205-248-4520.

Police are searching for a suspect in an early morning shooting at Crescent East Apartments. Someone shot a 21-year-old man during a robbery at the public housing complex in Holt at 4:40 a.m., said Lt. Kip Hart, assistant commander of the Tuscaloosa County Metro Homicide Unit. The victim’s injuries were not life-threatening, he said. Investigators were interviewing witnesses and developing a witness description Friday morning.

A woman and her baby were seriously injured early Thursday after an early morning accident on Culver Road. The woman had run out of gas near the B.F. Goodrich plant and was parked in the road at 12:30 a.m., said Tuscaloosa Police Sgt. Brent Blankley. She was taking the baby girl out of the back seat and was holding her when the driver of a 2004 Chevrolet Silverado struck them and the open back door, Blankley said. The woman and the… Read More »

Emergency officials responded to a woman and her 1-year-old child who were struck by a vehicle at around 12:30 a.m. The accident happened at 1923 Culver Road near the B.F. Goodrich plant. The woman is in serious condition and the baby is in critical condition, officials said. More information will be available as the story develops.

Police have released surveillance photos from a credit union robbery. A suspect can be seen wearing a red hooded sweatshirt and pointing a gun at cashiers at Alabama Central Credit Union at 423 15th Street. Two suspects entered the credit union, near the intersection of Hackberry Lane and 15th Street, at 12:24 p.m. and demanded money. The suspects left the credit union on foot, said Tuscaloosa Police spokesman Sgt. Brent Blankley. Anyone who can identify the suspect in the photo is… Read More »

Two of the 18 people who were injured in a shooting spree last week remain hospitalized. Mario Fritz Winkler remained in serious condition at DCH Regional Medical Center Wednesday, said hospital spokesman Brad Fisher. Renardo Jackson, an assistant football coach at Vigor High School in Prichard, was released Monday night. Information has been unavailable about the condition of Bruce Bankhead, 30, who suffered internal injuries after being shot at his home in Northport. Nathan Van Wilkins is accused of shooting… Read More »

A woman accused of killing her brother earlier this year intends to plead guilty to manslaughter. Lizzie Lee Minor, 30, was charged with murder on Jan. 14 after stabbing her brother, Bobby Minor, 34, at a home on Queen City Avenue. Court documents entered in Minor’s court file Tuesday indicate that she has agreed to plea to the less-serious manslaughter charge. It’s common for defendants to enter a plea before the case is heard by a grand jury, said Tuscaloosa… Read More »

A Tuscaloosa woman has been charged with the armed robbery of a Buddy’s Food Mart early this morning. A clerk told Tuscaloosa Police that a woman entered the store at 305 15th Street at 12:14 a.m. Tuesday. The suspect walked into the store with a black handgun and demanded money, according to TPD spokesman Sgt. Brent Blankley. The suspect left the store when the clerk refused. Officers received a tip shortly after the robbery that identified the suspect as Venessa… Read More »

A man suspected of killing an elderly man at his home in Northport last week was a habitual trespasser, investigators said. Several homeowners in Northport and Tuscaloosa County have contacted police to report that the suspect has been on their property, Sheriff Ted Sexton said. Christopher Patton, 29, is accused of killing Kenneth McDaniel, 79, with a pipe after luring him outside by flipping four breaker switches on the night of July 17. Patton had trespassed on the McDaniels’ property… Read More »

An elderly Northport man was beaten to death with a pipe late Tuesday night. Sheriff Ted Sexton said that the suspect may have lured Kenneth McDaniel, 79, from his home by flipping four breakers in the breaker box at the back of the house late Tuesday night. Sexton did not give a possible motive for the attack. McDaniel’s wife called 911 at 10:39 p.m. to report hearing what sounded like someone or something being beaten with a stick. She said… Read More »